Lottery fever hits the Valley

If $190 million in Friday's Mega Millions lottery isn't enough for you, there's always the Powerball.

Saturday's jackpot in that lottery is now $600 million. The Arizona lottery says Thursday tickets were selling at an average rate of $68,000 an hour. It peaked on the drive home at more than $133,000.

It's been a mad house at the Quik Trip near Union Hills and Cave Creek.

"It's been nonstop all day," said manager Jeff Erickson.

Word got out that a $1-million winning Powerball ticket was sold here a few days ago.

"In here? Lord have mercy!" said Patty Currigan.

"It was very exciting that it happened here," said Erickson.

The Arizona Lottery says this QT is the second-luckiest store for Powerball in the state.

"I would like to take care of the homeless," said one man who bought 10 Powerball tickets, five Mega Millions tickets and five Fantasy Five tickets.

"I'd take care of my kids. I'd take care of my church," said Currigan.

But if they were to see what that money would look like, would their answer change?

A million dollars in $1 bills would weigh about one ton. The mound of gravel weight at a Phoenix landscape yard weight about 40 tons, representing $40 million. It would take 15 of them to represent the jackpot.

If you were to stack 600 million $1 bills, that would look like 4,200 live shot vans with the mast raised 50 feet.

A Powerball ticket cost $2, but the big dreams that go along with them are free.

"They all think they have the winning ticket," said Erickson.

Now, of course, these are huge jackpots, and depending on whether the winner takes a lump sum check, he or she would lose about half of that in taxes. But still, that's a huge chunk of change.